Give me the bird.

March 19, 2011 7:47 PM

What bird (or bug or frog, but I think bird) made this sound in my backyard last night? I live in western Mass.
posted by Camofrog to Science & Nature (6 answers total)

That little bzz in the background? The sound is very faint, you have to crank the speakers.

That sounds like a bird or frog to me, Mostly because I know insect noises, and I don't know one like that.
posted by sanka at 8:15 PM on March 19, 2011

Sounds like a nighthawk.
posted by bricoleur at 8:21 PM on March 19, 2011

Best answer: I couldn't hear your recording too well but I'm guessing it's an American Woodcock.
posted by Jode at 8:22 PM on March 19, 2011

Indeed, I think a Nighthawk is it. All I ever wondered for my entire childhood was "what made that brbrbrbrbr noise", that noise you hear at the end there in a dive. Man that took me a lot of years to figure out, no one else knew either.
posted by sanka at 8:24 PM on March 19, 2011

Response by poster: It's definitely a woodcock.

He gives repeated "peents" on the ground, often on remaining patches of snow in the early spring.

That describes the situation exactly, right up to how I imagined spelling the sound.

Thank you.
posted by Camofrog at 8:34 PM on March 19, 2011

With all due respect to sanka and bricoleur, I think it's too early in the season for nighthawks. Woodcocks arrive early. (On preview, HAA!)
posted by Jode at 8:38 PM on March 19, 2011